Safety & Security

A bird violently smashes into a light aircraft’s windscreen, causing it to shatter. Watch this rare footage shot by a camera from the cockpit of a private US plane. Thousands of incidents like this occur every year. In an attempt to raise awareness of the risk to aircraft, the ICAO is holding an international symposium in Canada this month.
 

Latest safety performance figures for 2016 released by IATA show a slight rise on the previous year, but an overall decline compared to the five year average.
 

SpaceX launched ten satellites into low orbit on 14th January in the first phase of a constellation network of 81 satellites. By early 2018, these Iridium NEXT satellites could transform air traffic control, making it possible to know the exact flight position in real-time of all aircraft equipped with the GlobalBeacon system. Watch the launch video without comment. Read the article.
 

A week after the tragic shooting at Fort Lauderdale airport in Florida, the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) refuses to comment on a change of the rules in force. Transport of firearms is still allowed, under certain conditions, not only in the United States but also in Europe.
 

Qatar Airways is to track its aircraft in real-time during flights from 2018. It will be one of the first airline companies to be equipped with the GlobalBeacon system - aiming to avoid a repeat of the MH370 scenario. Read the article.
 

In their latest report, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) calculates that aircraft accidents accounted for 136 victims in 2015. A record year for aviation security, but which does not reflect the whole picture.
 

To ensure the safety of air routes in the event of volcanic eruption, the French national meteorological service has just obtained the LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging), a unique detection system in Europe.
 

The skyjacker who diverted an Egyptair Airbus A320 on 29 March finally gave himself up on the Cyprus airport tarmac. The man, whose motives were personal, was wearing a fake explosives belt. Read the article.
 

Parachutes for private aircraft have existed for over thirty years. The US Company BRS Aerospace emergency systems have saved nearly 350 lives. Here’s how.
 

One year after the premeditated Germanwings Airbus A320 crash, Germany has drawn lessons from the disaster, and will set up random checks of its airline pilots.
 

Over the last ten years, incidents of aircraft being targeted by laser beams have multiplied. The latest was on 14 February at London Heathrow Airport, when a pilot who had been temporarily blinded just after take-off had to turn the plane around.
 

Following the disappearance of flight MH370 in March 2014, it has just been decided to monitor civil aircraft flights by satellite. All commercial aircraft throughout the world will be able to be located with this system by 2017. Here’s how.
 

In early 2016, the European Parliament is due to adopt definitively the European Passenger Name Record (PNR). This common data file will be a new tool available to the 28 member states in the fight against the terrorist threat in particular.
 

After the terrorist attacks of last Friday in Paris, surveillance of sensitive locations such as airports has intensified. 10,000 soldiers have been mobilized across France for safety reasons.
 

The terrorist attacks on Saturday night in Paris and on its outskirts have left at least 132 dead and over 350 wounded. A state of emergency has been declared in France, and controls strengthened at airports.
 

Following the Metrojet crash on 31 October in the Sinai Peninsula, several companies have decided not to fly over northeastern Egypt, an area which has just been added to the ICAO "black list" of countries that are better avoided.
 

Following several incidents in recent months, electronic cigarettes are now strictly forbidden in the hold of an aircraft. E-cigarette users must keep them in the cabin - switched off of course.
 

To avoid drones and airplanes colliding, research is being intensified to try and establish concrete solutions to the problem. The French national school of civil aviation together with a drone manufacturer have even made it one of their priorities.
 

Two months after the crash of the A320 Germanwings, we take a closer look at a radar used in Germany, the PSS. This system is a highly responsive means of warning air traffic controllers in the event of an aircraft’s abnormal descent.